At the age of 16 my mom went to cosmetology school to get her certification and to start working on her own. Her school would give free haircuts to people who couldn't afford them and it was their way of practicing and learning. My mom received a blue hairbrush that she used to practice on a practice mannequin. She used that hairbrush all throughout the time she was there and she took it back home where she opened her own beauty salon next to her house. She worked in her salon for two years until she got married and decided to move to the United States with my dad to start their lives here. They left a lot of belongings behind in their home but something my mom maintained with her was her blue hairbrush. She would do her hair each morning before work using that hairbrush and once I had enough hair, she started doing my hair with that same hairbrush. To this day, my mom still uses that blue hairbrush to do my youngest sister's hair and to do her own. For her it was just a hairbrush but as the years went by she realized how that hairbrush has been with her since she was 16 years old, she's had it for 23 years and has never lost it. It's been with her through her struggle and her immigration journey. Who would've thought that a hairbrush could represent 23 years of someone's life? I hope that in the future I'm able to use this hairbrush to do my child's hair and hope to tell my mom's story and how el cepillo signifies more than half of her life.

– SV

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant